Base building and a Pace recap.. get it?

8:17: 4 miles, TM to make 25 miles for the week! That hasn't happened in a long time.

Off on our group camping adventure!

8/18: Camping

8/19: Camping

8/20: Dur. Tired. Rest

8/21: 4 miles, TM

8:22: Rest

8/23: Seattle Marathon 10K with Yon.

         1:00:55 or something

8/24: TIU HIIT, 20 min

         TIU, arms. 10 min

***

It's been a crazy August, and I can't believe it's almost over. This month has drained all life out of me but I've also felt pretty productive. Slightly crazed but productive.

I've been focusing on base building and heart rate training in August so I can prep for my next half. Training begins in September and I want to be physically and mentally ready to get back in it. 

I hadn't planned on signing up for any races this summer after the half in May, but when my friend asked me to run the a race with her while she was visiting family in Seattle, I couldn't turn her down! She is training for her first half marathon in October, and wanted to use this as a training race, as well as to get to her 1 hour time goal after a disappointing 10k race in July. 

Normally a race I've done before would be motivation to push myself to PR but I offered instead to run with my friend, which turned out to work out well since she couldn't find her Garmin the morning of the race. Turns out I come in handy as a human GPS watch!

We started off steady, despite having to weave past walkers (hi, we just started the race... ?) and clocked our first mile at 10:30 pace. Y was planning on starting slow and steady, with 10ish min miles and a strong finish. I did my best to make sure she didn't burn out in the beginning miles due to adrenaline and excitement. This was her first time running/chatting with someone and she said it really made the miles manageable and enjoyable. We were steady and chatty until mile 5, when we decided to just save the air for running. Our last miles were definitely the fastest, with mile 6 being sub 9 pace. I decided to let her sprint ahead the last .5 miles because I wanted her to finish strong and let her cross the finish line before me. I yelled out encouragements as we rounded the corner to finish, and she came in juuuust over the one hourmark, which was still a 6 minute PR for her! She was slightly disappointed she didn't get under an hour but overall was pleased by her performance.

The best part of any recap. Splits!
Second only to the banana/ice cream variety

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:00:45.0	6.24	9:41
1	10:30.3	1.00	10:30
2	10:13.9	1.00	10:14
3	10:04.1	1.00	10:04
4	9:56.9	1.00	9:57
5	9:26.1	1.00	9:26
6	8:44.5	1.00	8:44
7	1:52.5	0.24	7:41

It was my first time pacing someone during a race, and you know what? 

It felt great.

And I had a lot of fun doing it. The entire time we were running, my motivations were, for the first time, Selfless. My role in this race was to encourage and support someone else in helping reach a goal. It wasn't about how many people I could pass, earning personal bragging rights or PR-ing. I was proud of my friend's accomplishments and her race effort! Her husband, kids and brother were at the finish line, and JB even got a badass finish line photo of her.

JB later commented how he almost missed seeing her at the finish because he assumed I would be ahead of her (maybe pacers finish first? Dunno...did I do it all wrong?!) but I told him that early on in the race, I realized that today was not about me and that I wanted to help someone else reach their goals. 

In no way am I taking any credit for her performance; instead it was a good life lesson for me :

It isn't always about me. Community is about building each other up, and the running community does that. Sometimes I feel like I can be a selfish and self involved runner. I forget how much support I've received from others to get where I am today. 

***

While JB was waiting for us to finish, he decided to sign us up officially for the Seattle Half Marathon in Nov. I guess training really does start in September!

Also, the day after a bunch of squats and lunges = Cowboy Strut Monday.

Ow...

So. It's August...

Whoa.

How'd we get here? 

Since the last time I posted (in July!!) :

I have run outside a handful of times

Started watching Orange is The New Black while on the treadmill

Watched the little one stand as a ring boy at my cousin's wedding

The big boy turned 8! 

Aaand now it's the middle of August. 

Wow.

Where the time is going, I do not know. 

I've started attempting regular workouts, and I am already feeling a shift in my energy levels and mood. I am also trying this "new" meatless thing. I'm finding that I don't miss meat except for the idea of a juicy red robin burger (note: RR boca patty substituted in the bonzai burger is just NOT the same.). I've been more mindful of my protein intake and have so far been incorporating more salmon, shrimp and eggs into my diet. Carbs are back in the forms of whole grain wraps, brown rice, and English muffins but I won't turn down a bowl of delicious homemade regular pasta. Whole wheat pasta not allowed. Ever.

Now, workouts for August:

8/4: rest

8/5: 4 miles,  TM

8/6: 3 miles, TM

8/7: rest

8/8: rest

8/9: 6 miles, outside. 56+ min

8/10: rest
*TM runs: still using the heart rate monitor during the TM runs. So far so good. Will report back more findings soon.

8/9 info

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	56:43.0	6.02	9:23
1	9:27.5	1.00	9:27
2	9:30.4	1.00	9:30
3	9:34.5	1.00	9:35
4	9:23.1	1.00	9:23
5	9:11.3	1.00	9:11
6	9:22.4	1.00	9:22
7	:08.5	0.02	8:43

8/11: rest

8/12: 4 miles, TM

8:13: 5 miles, TM

8:14: 4 miles, TM 

8/15: rest

8/16: (planned) 6,7 miles

8/17: ? 

As you can see, the mileage isn't much but it is enough to start getting my head/body back in the game. Running for me has been a struggle this year. I even contemplating just giving up and calling it a wash but I know that these tough times are just like real life.

You pick yourself back up, and you keep going.

So. That is what I'm doing.